Today’s world is marked by constant change, technical revolutions, speed of information and polarized political environments. If you add to this the hallmarks of my world – the world of national security and defense – the world is also full of complex issues that challenge our traditional alliances and partnerships as well as complicate our responses to deter and fight (if necessary) our potential adversaries.
WOW. How can anyone survive, let alone thrive, in such an environment?
I’m fortunate that I learned the critical skills to help me do just this during my time at Duke.
As a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force and business leader, and with my consulting and board of director work today, the critical thinking, research and group collaboration skills I learned at Duke serve me well day in and day out. Moreover, the broad exposure to concepts, opinions and people I gained at Duke taught me the importance of forming opinions based on evidence, lifelong learning, listening with intent, and collaboration to obtain results. Finally, let’s face it – deadlines on term papers helped me learn how to produce products under strict deadlines without necessarily having all the information I would have liked. No matter the field you end up pursuing, Duke is a great place to start!